Game Informer teased more details about the leak-prone Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare today, saying that its June cover story has exclusive details on the next installment in the multibillion-dollar first-person shooter franchise.

In a post on Sunday, Game Informer said that developer Sledgehammer Games, the third major studio working on Call of Duty titles (in addition to Infinity Ward and Treyarch), is working on a new entry that “has a bold vision for the future of the franchise, in terms of both storyline and the brand as a whole.” The cover image shows a soldier on a collapsing Golden Gate Bridge. Stories about the game started leaking last week, forcing Activision to release its official introductory video for the title, which comes out in November.

Advanced Warfare is set in either 2052 or 2054 (Game Informer uses both years), and it is being built by former Dead Space developers Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey and their team at Sledgehammer in Redwood City, Calif. They have done their own research on future weaponry and technology in an attempt to make their own brand new Call of Duty universe as authentic as possible. They have consulted with government officials, futurists, and scientists to ensure that Advanced Warfare is a realistic vision of what war might become.

Game Informer teased 12 pages of information about the title, which is the first to benefit from a three-year development cycle — instead of the customary two-year process. In a video snippet, Activision Publishing chief executive Eric Hirshberg and military futurist Michael Belfiore said that Schofield and Condrey are experienced hands who won’t fail and deserve their day in the spotlight.

Condrey promised a different Call of Duty. Kevin Spacey will play Jonathan Irons, head of the Atlus Corp., a private military contractor that is a key part of the story. Game Informer confirms soldiers on both sides of the conflict will wear exoskeletons, abbreviated as EXO. A solider in this type of suit can jump onto a speeding car, punch through its roof, and toss an enemy into a pillar. Players can use “super jumps” with the EXO suits. They can also tap technologies like cloaking and a grenade that reveals the locations of nearby enemies. They can also climb slick surfaces using special gloves. One soldier has a minigun arm, and others ride high-speed hover bikes.

The video below has received almost 11 million views.

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]]>0Game Informer teases its cover story on Call of Duty: Advanced WarfareWheelchair users walk this way with ReWalk 2.0http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/rewalk-2-0/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/23/rewalk-2-0/#commentsWed, 23 Jan 2013 20:26:25 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=609201A man in a wheelchair stands up and takes his first step in many years. Attached to his legs and waist is a robotic exoskeleton called the ReWalk which helps him to stand, sit, walk and even climb stairs. One user, Claire Lomas, even completed the London marathon in one
]]>A man in a wheelchair stands up and takes his first step in many years. Attached to his legs and waist is a robotic exoskeleton called the ReWalk which helps him to stand, sit, walk and even climb stairs. One person, Claire Lomas, even completed the London marathon in one. Argo Medical Technologies, which makes the ReWalk suit, just released a new version for use in rehabilitation centers in the U.S.

Over 100 people are already walking around Europe and Israel in a ReWalk Personal and, pending FDA approval, the suit will be available for personal use in the U.S. in the second half of 2013. ReWalk Rehabilitation is already helping patients in 16 rehabilitation centers across the United States.

Israeli electrical engineer Dr. Amit Goffer designed the ReWalk suit. He became a quadriplegic following an accident in 1997. Goffer devoted 10 years to developing a device that would help a paraplegic to walk again. Such devices, like metal frames with springs, have been around for at least 50 years but required an enormous effort from the user. “It was extremely tiring for an individual to take 10 or 15 steps. A key element of the ReWalk design was that the energy requirements of the user should be no different from that of someone who was not injured,” says Argo Medical Technologies CEO Larry Jasinski.

Goffer developed a robotic exoskeleton that attaches to a person’s legs and waist and can bear the weight of both the user and the device itself. Shifts in the user’s center of gravity control the suit, somewhat like riding a Segway. The suit’s motion sensor can detect a very small movement of say 4 degrees and send a signal to the bionic legs to begin to move. A backpack carries the suit’s battery and software. The ReWalk is used with crutches purely for balance. The suit’s software includes safety features that detect if the user is about to fall.

ReWalk Rehabilitation 2.0 can be more easily adapted to users of different heights and weights and has a beginner-gait mode with improved software to support new users as they learn to take their first steps. Patients need training to learn how to use the suit (an average of 15 sessions), but some have been able to walk unaided in the third session.

The ReWalk doesn’t just allow users to walk again but may have a remarkable effect on their overall health. “How many of us are told by doctors to get off the couch? The health challenges for someone with a spinal chord injury are immense,” says Jasinski.

Purely because they spend their time in a wheelchair, paraplegics experience depleted bone density, rising body fat, diabetes, declining cardiovascular fitness, severe bowel problems, and pain. Argo Medical technologies is involved in two clinical studies on the effect of the ReWalk suit on patient’s general health. “We are evaluating what you do to the overall metabolism of a person when you let them walk again. Our patients are almost universally showing reduced body fat, increased lean tissue and improved cardiovascular function.”

The ReWalk is currently available in Europe and costs €52,500. The price Stateside is expected to be around $65,000. The price tag may be steep, but Jasinski told me that the overall cost of care for ReWalk users drops considerably. “We believe that the health impact will more than pay for the cost of this device.”

The company is developing a product for quadriplegics (patients who also cannot use their arms) that is similar to the current suit but will have crutches integrated into the system and is looking at many other medical applications where people cannot walk because of a stroke, Multiple Sclerosis or Cerebral Palsy. Users are, however, still waiting for a dance mode.

]]>0Wheelchair users walk this way with ReWalk 2.0Top five exoskeletons (gallery)http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/07/top-five-exoskeletons-gallery/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/07/top-five-exoskeletons-gallery/#commentsMon, 07 Jan 2013 16:44:54 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=599838Human beings have been using technology to extend their physical capabilities since the first stone tools but the bionic man is no longer just a sci-fi dream. Meet five exoskeletons which let paraplegics walk again, extend the endurance of soldiers and keep first-responders safe in a nuclear accident.
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Human beings have used technology to extend their physical capabilities since the first stone tools, but the bionic man is no longer just a sci-fi dream. Meet five exoskeletons which let paraplegics walk again, extend the endurance of soldiers and keep workers safe in a damaged nuclear power plant.

]]>1Top five exoskeletons (gallery)Paraplegics walk again with bionic exoskeleton ReWalkhttp://venturebeat.com/2012/12/24/paraplegics-can-walk-again-with-bionic-exoskeleton-rewalk/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/24/paraplegics-can-walk-again-with-bionic-exoskeleton-rewalk/#commentsMon, 24 Dec 2012 15:00:26 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=595046It took Claire Lomas 17 days to complete the London marathon. The twist? Lomas is paralyzed from the chest down and walked the entire course wearing a robotic exoskeleton called the ReWalk. ReWalk users, who thought they would never walk again, can stand, sit, walk and climb stairs.
]]>It took Claire Lomas 17 days to complete the London marathon. The twist? Lomas is paralyzed from the chest down and walked the entire course wearing a bionic exoskeleton called the ReWalk. ReWalk users, most of whom never expected to take another step, can stand, sit, walk and climb stairs.

The ReWalk suit was designed by Israeli electrical engineer Dr Remit Gopher, who became a quadriplegic following an accident in 1997. Gopher devoted 10 years to developing a device which would allow a paraplegic to walk again. Such devices, like metal frames with springs, have been around for at least 50 years but required an enormous effort from the user.

“It was extremely tiring for an individual to take 10 or 15 steps. A key element of the ReWalk design was that the energy requirements of the user should be no different from that of someone who was not injured,” says Argo Medical Technologies (the company which makes the ReWalk) CEO Larry Jasinski.

Gopher developed a robotic exoskeleton which attaches to the user’s legs and waist and can bear the weight of both the user and the device itself. The suit is controlled via shifts in the user’s center of gravity, somewhat like riding a Segway. The suit’s motion sensor can detect a very small movement of say 4 degrees and send a signal to the bionic legs to begin to move. A backpack carries the suit’s battery and software.

Patients need training to learn how to use the suit (an average of 15 sessions) but some have been able to walk unaided in the third session. The ReWalk is used with crutches purely for balance. The suit’s software includes safety features which detect if the user is about to fall.

The ReWalk doesn’t just allow users to walk again but may have a remarkable effect on their overall health. “How many of us are told by doctors to get off the couch? The health challenges for someone with a spinal chord injury are immense,” says Jasinski.

Purely because they spend their time in a wheelchair, paraplegics experience depleted bone density, rising body fat, diabetes, declining cardiovascular fitness, severe bowel problems and pain. Argo Medical technologies is involved in two clinical studies on the effect of the ReWalk suit on patient’s general health. “We are evaluating what you do to the overall metabolism of a person when you let them walk again. Our patients are almost universally showing reduced body fat, increased lean tissue and improved cardiovascular function.”

The ReWalk is currently available in Europe and costs 52,500 EUR. “We believe that we will have patients walking around the streets of the US in the second half of 2013 (pending FDA approval),” says Jasinski. The price stateside is expected to be around $65,000. ReWalks are already in use in 22 rehabilitation centres across the U.S.

The pricetag may be steep but Jasinski told me that the overall cost of care for ReWalk users drops considerably. “We believe that the health impact will more than pay for the cost of this device.” Around 100 Europeans currently have a ReWalk for personal use.

The company is developing a product for quadriplegics (patients who also cannot use their arms) which is similar to the current suit but will have crutches integrated into the system and is looking at many other medical applications where people cannot walk because of a stroke, Multiple Sclerosis or Cerebral Palsy. Users like John (featured in the video above) are, however, still waiting for the “dance mode”.

]]>0Paraplegics walk again with bionic exoskeleton ReWalkEquipois seeks $1.5M for ergonomic deviceshttp://venturebeat.com/2007/06/18/equipois-seeks-15m-for-ergonomic-devices/
http://venturebeat.com/2007/06/18/equipois-seeks-15m-for-ergonomic-devices/#commentsMon, 18 Jun 2007 16:54:05 +0000http://venturebeat.com/2007/06/18/equipois-seeks-15m-for-ergonomic-devices/Equipois, a Los Angeles developer of assisted-support devices for the prevention of repetitive stress injury, is partway through raising a $1.5 million first round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company plans a larger $10 million round by the end of this year. Equipois is adapting the technology behind the Steadicam to develop an ergonomic “arm” […]
]]>Equipois, a Los Angeles developer of assisted-support devices for the prevention of repetitive stress injury, is partway through raising a $1.5 million first round, VentureWire reports (subscription required). The company plans a larger $10 million round by the end of this year.

Equipois is adapting the technology behind the Steadicam to develop an ergonomic “arm” that can hold objects and perform repetitive tasks without fatiguing or injuring the user. Here’s how the company describes it:

Equipois Inc. seeks to apply its revolutionary ergonomic arm technology to empower human ability. An Equipois arm, developed and patented by legendary inventor Garrett Brown, holds an object in “equipoise” – perfect balance – so that it weighs virtually nothing for the person utilizing it. This means that a worker on an assembly line can hold an eight-pound tool as if weightless; a surgeon can perform a six-hour operation without exhaustion from supporting her own arm; and heavy machinery can be positioned perfectly, as if in zero gravity, with virtually the same exertion as lifting a pen.

The company expects to close its first round with investments from family and individual investors within three months.